Truck loading conveyor for ditching machines



Sept. 26, 1961 H. c. WILTON 3,001,653

TRUCK LOADING CONVEYOR FOR DITCHING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1959 O I INVENTOR. HERBERT C. WILTON BY WWY United States Patent .0

3,001,653 TRUCK LOADING CONVEYOR FOR DITCIDNG MACHINES Herbert C. Wilton, 7800 SE. Luther Road, Portland 6, Oreg. Filed Mar. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 800,759 1 Claim. (Cl. 21483.36)

This invention relates to improvements in self-propelled ditch digging machines of the type used for laying gas lines, water'and cable lines, and the like. More particularly the invention relates to conveyor means removably secured to and movable with the digging machine for conveying the earth discharged from the digging instrumentalities of the machine to a truck or similar conveyance movable along with, but independent of, th digging machine and the conveyor.

One of the principal objects of the invention is the provision of a conveyor of the character described which is readily adaptable for attachment to the various makes of ditch digging machines and including adqustable means for stabilizing the conveyor in any angular upright position relative to the machine and wherein said adjusting means is utilized for anchoring the conveyor in a fixed posit-ion relative to a wheeled support for transportation purposes independent of the digging machine. The support also constitutes a receptacle for the excavated dirt discharged by the digging machine. 7

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing forming a part hereof and in which: FIGURE 1 is a rear view of a ditch digging machine equipped with a conveyor and supporting means therefor made in accordance with my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 1 with a fragment of the side wall of the wheeled support broken away for convenience of illustration.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevation on an enlarged scale of the wheeled support and the bottom end of the conveyor terminating within the support.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional end view on an enlarged scale taken approximately along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of one of two gusset plates utilized in the construction of the angularly related frame members of the conveyor.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan view on an enlarged scale of the wheeled support and means for attaching it to the ditch digging machine.

With continuing reference to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate like parts, reference numeral 1 indicates generally a self-propelled ditch digging machine supported upon ground engaging steel crawler tracks 2 and 3 and provided with an engine 4 operatively coupled to the crawler tracks and to the digging or cutting blades 5 secured to an endless chain entrained over suitable sprockets carried by a vertically adjusted frame indicated generally at 6. A two-way conveyor extending outwardly from both sides of the machine as at 7 and 8 is also driven by the engine 4 and selectively operable to discharge earth from one side of the machine or the other.

Conventional guard plates 11 and 12 are mounted on the outboard side of the tracks to protect the tracks and their respective sprockets from excavated dirt discharged from either end of the two-way conveyor of the ditching machine.

The portable conveyor of our invention comprises a cart having a box-like body indicated generally at 15 supported upon ground engaging idling wheels 16 at its for- 3,001,653 Patented Sept. 26, 1961 ward end and a ground engaging idling caster wheel 17 attached to the rear wall of the cart. The front wheels are rotatably attached to a forward extension of the bottom wall 18 of the cart body which also provides a supporting platform for a prime mover such as an internal combustion engine indicated generally at 19 or an electric motor if desirableor necessary.

The front and rear walls of the cart (see FIGURE 3) are provided with opposed upwardly opening elongated recesses 24 and 25, respectively, within which are pivotally and removably mounted aligned bearing blocks 26 and 27 flanged as at 28 inwardly of their respective recesses and thereby secured as by welding or the like to the bottom endof a'pair of parallel side plates 30 and 31 of the conveyor proper of this invention.

The side plates at this bottom end are maintained in parallel spaced relation to each other by a driven roller 34 having a hub 35 at each end reacting against the inside of the side plates. The roller 34 may be secured to or integrated with a driven shaft 36 journalled through the side plates and bearing blocks 26 and 27 and provided at its forward end with a sprocket wheel 38 driven by a sprocket chain 39 entrained over a driving sprocket wheel 40 secured-t0 the power take-01f shaft 41 of the engine 19.

The top end of the side plates 30 and 31 are interconnected by gusset plates 45 with horizontally arranged parallel side plates 46 and 47, respectively, rigidly held in the same spaced relation to each other asthe plates 30 and 3 1 by the gusset plates. 7 7

An idling roller 50 is rotatably mounted between the outer end of the horizontal side plates 46 and 47 in the conventional manner. An endless conveyor belt 51 is entrained over the driving and idling rollers and provided with buckets 52 of any suitable design and capacity.

To faciliate passage of the conveyor belt across the angular juncture of the side plates 3031 and 4647, I provide an idling roller 55 journaled at its ends in the inner ends of the horizontal plates 4647 and a companion idling roller 56 journaled in the top ends of the upwardly extending plates 30-31. The top run 58 of the conveyor belt is entrained over these rollers while the bottom run 59 thereof is slidably supported by opposing arcuate tracks 60 and 61 carried by the gusset plates 45. As best shown in FIGURE 4, the Width of the buckets 52 is such that they will clear the tracks 60 and 61 during normal operation of the conveyor belt 59.

With particular reference to FIGURES 1 and 6, it will be noted that the top rim 65 of the cart body 15 is disposed slightly below the discharge end of the conveyor '7 of the ditching machine and that the cart is attached to the machine by means of an elongated bolt 66 extending through eye bolts 67 secured to the guard plate 11 and aligned with eye bolts 68 secured to the side wall 69 of the cart body 15. For attaching the cart to the opposite side of the ditching machine I provide eye bolts 67A secured to the guard plate 12 for similar attachment to eye bolts 68A secured to the opposite side wall of the cart.

For maintaining the conveyor of this invention in the position shown in FIGURE 1 relative to the body of a dump truck, indicated generally at 75, or in any angular position oif the vertical, I provided a longitudinally adjustable strut indicated generally at 76 and comprising an arm.- 77 pivotally attached as at 78 at one of its ends to a stanchion 79 incorporated in the digging machine. The opposite end portion of the arm 77 is telescopically engaged with one end portion of a hollow tubular member 80 whose opposite end is pi-votally attached as at 81 to the side plate 31 of the conveyor. The arm 77 and tubular member 80 are lockable in longitudinally adjusted positions relative to each other by a pin 82 extending through apertures 83 extending through the tubular member and adapted forralignment with an aperture (not shown) in the arm. v

When it is desired to transport the conveyor independently of the digging machine; it is merely necessary to remove the bolt 66 interconnectingthe eyebolts 67 and 68 and detach the arm 77 from the stanchion 79. 'Thfirfitl'llil can then be swung downwardly until the eye '85 in the end of the arm 77 registers with an opening'86 in a lug 87 secured to and extending upwardly from the rim .65 of the cart body near one corner thereof. If v it becomes necessary or desirable to anchor the conveyor in a vertically balanced position relative to the cart, the strut members 77 and '80 may be adjusted relative to each other and locked in the adjusted position by manipulation of the pin 82 through the apertures therein. r

Although I have shown a conveyor of angular formation for convenience in reaching over the top of a truck body I do not wish to be limited to a conveyor soconstructed since obviously a straight line conveyor could be used effectively by merely increasing the angle of its inclination away from the cart body.

While I have herein shown and described a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A power driven conveyor and a portable support therefor both adapted for attachment to one side of and for traveling with a ditch digging machine having a self-contained conveyor, said support comprising a receptacle having a bottom wall, front, rear and side walls and sup ported upon two forward ground-engaging idling wheels and a rearward ground-engaging idling caster wheel, said fi'ont and rear walls having forwardly and rearwardly aligned upwardly opening recesses therein, means carried by one of said side walls cooperating with means carried by the ditch digging machine for hingedly attaching the support to said machine, whereby said power driven conveyor and support therefor will travel along with and depend upon guidance by the digging machine during a diggingoperation, said power driven conveyor having a top end and a bottom end and comprising parallel side plates held in spaced relation to each other at their top and bottom ends, a bearing block gravitationally held within each of .said recesses, a driving rshaft' journalled through said bearing blocks, a roller secured to said shaft between said plates and adapted to maintain said bottom end of the plates in'said spaced relation and whereby the power driven conveyor is swingably supportedby said receptacle, a prime mover carried by said support and operatively connected to said driving shaft, longitudinally adjustable means attached at one of its ends to one of said side plates and adapted for connection at its opposite end to a structural element of said digging machine and adapted at said opposite end for selective attachment to one of said side walls of the receptacle, whereby said power driven conveyor can be held in various angular positions ofif the vertical relative to said digging machine and to said support by said adjustable means when attached to said digging machine or held in a balanced position relative to said .support by attachment of said opposite end of said adjustable means to said support. 1

References'Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

